Where To Begin-Getting Organized
Your research should begin by initiating a good filing system, one
which will allow adequate storage and facilitate easy subsequent
retrieval of data. Many forms are available free on the Internet.
One of the best places for these forms is Family Tree Magazine.com.
This site has a chart or form for almost any type of genealogical
research.
In today's rapidly advancing technological world however, it wasn't
going to be long before someone found a way to make our friend the
computer do the real work of data storage and retrieval, and those
researchers with access to even the humblest of personal computers
will now find a suitable program available at relatively little cost or
even free. Legacy Family Tree has a free Windows based software
available for download. This isn't trial software. It is fully functional
and will suit the needs of most.
Whichever method you choose to use, software or pen and paper, you
will need to know which charts or forms to use and how to enter the
data that you have collected.
The most often used chart is the ascendant pedigree chart. The
ascendant pedigree chart will start with you and move backwards
through time. Your first entry will be yourself and then there will be
two branches where you enter your parents. It will then move onto
four branches where you will enter your parents parents (your
grandparents) and so on. On these forms you will record the name,
birth, marriage and death dates and places of your ancestors.
These charts normally record four or five generations on each page,
but are available with up to fifteen generations per page. You will find
that the four generation per page format is easier and more
convenient to work with.
There is also a numbering system for the pedigree chart known as the
ahnentafel numbering system (after the older ahnentafel chart which
is not used very often today. The numbering system is very easy and
works like this: You would be number one on the chart, your father
would be two times the child's number (2x1=2) and your mother
would be two times the child's plus one (2x1+1=3). Your male
ancestors will always be an even number and your female ancestors
will always have an odd number assigned.